Opinion | Features

Why is it that agencies or brands with momentum seem to be more successful? Christopher Ott explains the Matthew Effect.
When an ad achieves success at one award show it generally goes on to receive more success at other shows. As though its fame feeds its future success, ad infinitum. There’s an unfair advantage, right? The same unfair advantage big brands enjoy over small ones.
It's called the Mathew Effect - named after a verse in the Matthew Gospel, which goes: "For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance".

With journalists being blamed for breaching suppression orders on some high profile trials Mark Pearson of Griffith University asks if the way the laws currently work are really suitable for the internet age.
It is somewhat alarming when a media law academic finds himself on the wrong side of a media law. But that is exactly what happened to me when I discovered the new edition of our textbook was in breach of a suppression order on the name of Adrian Bayley – the man who murdered Jill Meagher.

Newcomers can struggle to adjust to the fast-paced world of media agencies. Here Marco Del Castillo talks about the challenges he has faced in his first year at MEC.
I’m days away from rounding out my rookie season in this industry and it has been a heck of a ride. A naïve student in the field of psychology and marketing, I have found myself in the thick of a fast-paced world filled with interesting people, a ridiculous amount of jargon and litres of beer, wine and champagne to rival the downpour of the 2011 QLD floods.

Dean Dacko is the head of marketing for Malaysia Airlines, a company that has experienced more upheaval in the last 12 months than perhaps any local brand in history.
In this expansive interview with Robin Hicks at the Festival of Media Asia, the Canadian talks about how the twin air disasters of MH370 and MH17 have changed the airline's approach to communications, how these traumatic events affected him personally, and the plan to rebuild one of Malaysia's most revered national brands.
Dean, you've been with Malaysia Airlines for just over two and half years. The last 12 months must have been particularly challenging?

Australian businesses constantly bemoan the brain drain and loss of talent overseas, but Mumbrella editor Alex Hayes asks what are we doing about promoting the country as a destination for the best creative and digital minds in the world to come and live?
The town of Denton in Texas has 125,000 souls, two universities, and its main employer at the moment is truck builder Peterbilt. However, it is desperately trying to bolster the contribution of creative and digital types to its economy as it looks to the future.
I learned all of this whilst enjoying a coffee with the city's mayor, as could any of the 32,000 plus digital and creative and digital entrepreneurs that passed the stall at SXSW Interactive's trade show.
Inspired I went wondering the enormous trade hall for Australia's version - but there wasn't one to be found.

In this cross-posting from The Conversation Ben Goldsmith of the Queensland University of Technology looks at why Rupert Murdoch voiced his displeasure at planned media reforms despite standing to gain.
Earlier this month, reports suggested that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is preparing to take a media reform package to cabinet. The Weekend Australian called it a “surprise move” and reported that media executives were “shocked”.

The official arrival of Netflix in Australia today fires the starting gun on what could be one of the biggest marketing wars this year. Miranda Ward runs the ruler over the new local offering and how it measures up the its US counterpart, as well as local players Stan and Presto.
Australians have never had so many options as to how they consume content - but for people looking to dip their toes in the video streaming waters the options are many and dazzling with many shows carried by more than one service, and all having different exclusive content.
I’ve been using the US version of Netflix for the last month, while I’ve also experimented with Stan and Presto. But which will consumers choose?

Last November Nic Christensen looked at how the new streaming services were just part of a larger war between the telcos. With today's launch of Netflix locally we revisit the piece - and in a postscript look at how it has played out so far.
Brace yourself, a media winter is coming.
But it's not the impending streaming war between Presto, Netflix and newly minted Stan that you've been hearing so much about that will redefine the Australian media landscape, but rather what sides the various media companies fall on.

With over 1,000 sessions at SXSW Interactive this year there was a lot of competition for attention. Here Douglas Nicol outlines the three speakers he got the most from at this year's event.
You get wonderfully judgmental about each presenter pretty quickly at SXSW, you sort of know if the speaker is going to be good within 10 minutes, and if they're a dud you quickly switch to another concurrent session. But if you've done your homework you strike gold most days.
Here are 3 of the people who I found pretty damn interesting and inspiring:

Former news.com.au night editor Will Colvin has written an article for Sneaky magazine celebrating how little work he used to get away with on the News Corp-owned site. Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes argues that by staying in the job, Colvin denied it to somebody else who needed it more.
It seems to be journo confession month.

Following the death of former prime minister Malcolm Fraser and comments that he under achieved while in government Burson-Marsteller CEO Christine Jones offers some pointers on how politicians could communicate more effectively in an effort to be remembered in a more positive light once out of office.
Like many people, I was saddened to hear the news that Malcolm Fraser passed away overnight. Since the news was announced a few hours ago, tributes have flowed in from all corners of our country and around the world. It’s a fitting acknowledgement of his service to Australia and Australians over many decades.

Data retention has been in the headlines in recent week but do the proposed amendments go far enough in protecting the media asks Angela Daly, Swinburne University of Technology and Adam Molnar, Deakin University in this cross post from The Conversation.
The House of Representatives has finally passed the third tranche of national security legislation, concerning the mandatory retention of all Australians' data when they use telecommunications services.
In the wake of concerns about how such data retention could impact upon the media, the government and ALP adopted amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014.
These amendments entail that law enforcement agencies aside from ASIO wanting to access journalists' data to discover their sources would first have to seek a warrant.

Amid ongoing reports of the death of print, Carat's Christine McKinnon looks at some possible future revenue streams for magazine publishers.
Two weeks ago I walked into a news agency to retrieve my subscriber copy of the News Corp Disney Frozen book and CD.
As I walked in something seemed out of place. The stationery was along the walls as it always had been; the middle aisle, however, was full of extracurricular study books for primary school students. I wandered over to the counter and asked nervously “where are your magazines?”
The owner smiled, and yes, with pity said: "we don’t sell magazines anymore…no one bought them – we had too many returns - we make more money out of text books.”
There was not a single magazine to be seen - not even a Woman’s Weekly or a Delicious. It was a Twilight Zone moment, a one way moment. There was no going back. "We don’t sell magazines anymore.”
It was over.

Kristy Richards, and Daniel Bluzer-Fry present a synopsis of their talk at SXSW looking investigating what effects ‘game changing’ technologies may have on who we are and our relationships and ideals in the future.
Technology and the rapid pace of innovation is having a profound effect upon all of our lives. The positive draw of the benefits of tech is hugely enticing.

Roger Box finds himself wrestling with existential questions after learning about mind clones.One of the reasons to come to SXSW is to get exposure to new ideas, and you hear the phrase "mind blown" a lot around here.
The session that did that for me was from Martine Rothblatt who gave a keynote talking about mind clones – the idea that humans can transcend software and potentially live forever.

Kiwi skateboarding brand Eshe declares ‘Religion is garbage’

A New Zealand skateboarding brand has declared ‘Religion is garbage’ with a series of deliberately controversial posters hitting the streets of central Auckland.

The posters for Eshe Skateboarding, created in the style of the famous cartoon series Garbage Pail kids, subvert religious figures from Christianity, Hinduism and Scientology.

They are the second in the series of the brand’s anti-religion campaign that launched in 2010. The first featured an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad with a bomb strapped to his body and the slogan ‘Tick-tock Muhammad’.

A spokesman for Eshe told Mumbrella: “Skateboarding used to be edgy back in the 90s. Everything today seems very tame, boring and to be honest, the way the religion wants a special exemption from criticism and free speech being held hostage by fanatics, pisses us off. We decided it would be fun to use satire to make a point, rather than yet another boring as hell logo design.”

On whether the campaign was deliberately provocative, he said: “Absolutely. The freedom to be offensive is important.”

The first phase of the campaign featured a subversive image on the leader of Hillsong, a powerful pentecostal church led by New Zealander Brian Houston.

The first phase of the campaign resulted in a number of complaints to New Zealand’s Advertising Standards Authority – but they were not upheld.

The new poster executions have been printed on limited edition skateboards.

The reason for the censorship isn’t obvious. You are going to have to spell it out.

Groucho
1 Oct 12
12:31 am

Good to see that with just a few riots Muslims have silenced any criticism of them. They should run courses for Christians, Jews, Buddhists and all the other religions who get criticised just to make sure there is no favouritism. I mean we can’t have the fourth estate ruled by fear can we?

Dr Dimeto
1 Oct 12
8:09 am

All of the complaints about the self censorship regarding the muslim poster… Agreed but be aware that they also chose not to show the one with the Pope being referred to as a pedophile.

Personally I love all of these.

Dave
1 Oct 12
8:26 am

Jeff,

My guess is, Tim realises history has shown most religions have accepted that the likeness of their leader may get mocked, and while some members of the Muslim faith have as well, clearly others are still a wee bit touchy on the subject, and perhaps Tim chose protecting his business and staff over one more outbreak of bullshit.

Dave

Elbogrease
1 Oct 12
9:17 am

Still waiting for your explanation Tim.

Jeff
1 Oct 12
1:38 pm

Still not sure why they’d do a campaign done by another skate brand 15 years ago

Still not sure why it’s ok to poke fun at some religions and not others

mumbrella
1 Oct 12
3:52 pm

Sorry for the slow response, Elbogrease, Worst of Perth, Seriously, Jeff, James et al. It’s a question I wanted to have the time to answer properly.

Bluntly, if you publish images of The Prophet, offensive or otherwise, as night follows day, it is likely that you will be attacked.

As you may be aware, a belief within Islam is that it is offensive to show images of Mohammed regardless of context.

I spent some time working in the Middle East, enough to become aware that those who follow Islam are almost without exception, peaceful people whose belief in the Quran inspires them to lead positive, charitable lives.

However, likes any religion, there are a small number who do not. In 2006, I happened to be in Beirut for an advertising awards event at the time that anger was growing over a series of Danish cartoons. An ad agency I popped into the next day shared the same office building as the Danish embassy.

But I honestly believe that to publish that ad would put me, and more importantly, my staff in danger. And while some principles are worth fighting for, a crass, attention-seeking Kiwi skateboarding brand is not.

I suspect they may not know how much danger they are potentially in.

In my view, their cartoons have little merit. I weighed up not running the story at all, as I worried we were playing into their hands just by publishing this crap. And of course it’s unfair to publish something that’s offensive to one religion and not that which is offensive to another.

But I think I’ve chosen the least shit alternative.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

Elbogrease
1 Oct 12
3:57 pm

Thanks for your reply Tim. Shouldn’t have run the story at all as you say.

Jeff
1 Oct 12
4:14 pm

Very good response and thanks for the honesty, personally I’d just have gone with none.

Cheers.

Peter Chanel
1 Oct 12
4:17 pm

What you’re saying is that you are prepared to show some restraint, respect and politeness because you believe there may be a violent reaction if you don’t. But if you believe there is no risk of any physical retaliation, then you think it is fine to subject people and their faiths to mockery and ridicule. This reveals more about you than it does about Islam.

Martin
1 Oct 12
4:21 pm

Well said Tim.

mumbrella
1 Oct 12
4:37 pm

Hi Peter,

I don’t actually think it’s fine to subject anyone of faith to mockery and ridicule, particularly when it’s lazy and stupid, as this work appears to me. But I do struggle with the question of whether we should not cover it as a news story when others do so.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

Dabug
1 Oct 12
4:45 pm

These cards are great. Now, if we could just amend section 116 of the constitution and curtail the $30 billion in tax write offs that religions enjoy.

Isaac
1 Oct 12
4:57 pm

The inclusion of Gandhi shows a lack of thought that went into this campaign. He was a Hindu, but hardly a representative figure of that particular religion.

Also, where is the Dalai Lama one?

Peter Chanel
1 Oct 12
5:09 pm

This is where the media is at these days: Everyone else is crass, tasteless and offensive, so I have to be as well.

LW
1 Oct 12
6:24 pm

Peter Chanel, covering this as a news story simply shows how one brand has chosen to market themselves. Any ‘vilification’ comes from people’s response to that. Given that the content is on a marketing-related website, and not a religious one, it should be pretty clear to most readers what the context is.

Alison_F
2 Oct 12
11:54 am

@Jeff… your link to the original had me laughing out loud… unfortunately, these versions do seem a tad ‘done before’…
Thanks for posting Tim, it’s all news at the end of the day…

JG
2 Oct 12
12:15 pm

Stick with atheism or agnosticism. When was the last time you heard of ‘agnostic tension’ or ‘athesitic wars’?

Justan Aussie
2 Oct 12
12:33 pm

Tim, just checked out the Eshe Skateboarding site an there are no skateboards showing derogatory attacks on Islam, just all other religions. Waste of time running the story at all about a bunch of gutless morons.

mumbrella
2 Oct 12
1:40 pm

Hi Justan Aussie,

It was there. They may, sensibly, have removed it.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

MattP
2 Oct 12
1:58 pm

@Dabug, the $30b tax write off you claim religions “enjoy” is only a small part of the billions of dollars all religions spend on supporting the community, families, destitute and otherwise vulnerable who would otherwise be exposed. Taxing these selfless institutions would only leave less money available to help the poor.

But the facts aren’t anywhere are much fun as any opportunity for you to add your throw away, off topic, anti-religion line, is it?

And this skate board company is demonstrating what desperate lengths people are prepared to go to if your product has no redeeming features.

Not the other James
2 Oct 12
3:29 pm

Props for the response Tim, perhaps my response was a bit of a knee jerk reaction, but given recent events I can’t say I really blame you. It’s one thing to put yourself out there, but it’s not entirely fair to subject staff to the same thing, unbeknownst to them.

You do a great job on the blog anyway, and I don’t doubt there was a lot of two and throwing on how to tackle this topic. I find it interesting that when I looked on the skateboard company’s website, I couldn’t find any pics of the controversial design. I guess that says a lot about them if they’re not even willing to run the pics.

Blue
2 Oct 12
6:06 pm

Don’t worry kids, if you thought your religion was missed out, here’s one that Eshe did that didn’t make the original article…http://i.imgur.com/Bkyas.png
I assume that’s the one that was (shamefully) missed out that we’re all talking about?

Agno
8 Oct 12
3:08 pm

Tim, are you sure Brainwashing Brian doesn’t refer to Brian Tamaki instead of Brian Houston? The image looks a lot like Tamaki, a far more sinister religious leader. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Tamaki

Bob
9 Oct 12
10:31 am

Actually, I’d say that the refusal to mock Islam (due to fear of violent retaliation) will actually cause more damage to their religion overall. After all, what does it say about your faith when the general populace assumes the standard reaction to criticism is violence?

So while on the surface people may think Islam is benefiting from this self-censorship, the reality is that the whole religion is being damaged by the perception (and often reality) of being associated with bloodshed and violence.

Just compare the reactions of people (even athiests) when, say, proposing a new church for an area, in contrast with a new mosque.

Sad but true
9 Oct 12
11:51 am

@Bob (comment 42)

Spot on Bob! Without a doubt if a proposed mosque was being planned, based on the worldwide violence from Muslim’s recently, there would be a higher chance of uproar in allowing it to be built v a church, a Sikh temple, or a cathedral etc

It is truly sad, however it is different worlds and ways of life and it has always been the big cultural difference, which doesn’t look like changing anytime soon? (Islam v the world…)

Has anyone got an informed take on what the future holds?

Maude
11 Oct 12
11:05 am

I checked the website and there no image for Islam? Was it removed?

Maude
11 Oct 12
11:22 am

PS

I worked in Afghanistan with NGO’s for 3 years, and it made me even more determined to challenge thinking at home here in Oz

Waaah
26 Oct 12
12:39 pm

Well said Tim! Damn good response.

Waaah
26 Oct 12
12:43 pm

@Agno it’s definitely Tamaki. Destiny “church” sells gold rings to members in NZ… Hence the gold ring with a “D” on it. The whole thing was a stupid move by Eshe. Not even remotely clever.

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